Communication method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A communication method includes the steps of transmitting, by means of a first communication apparatus, personal information to a second communication apparatus; receiving, by means of the second communication apparatus, the personal information and searching, by means of the second communication apparatus, whether or not personal information having the same content as the received personal information exists in the second communication apparatus; and notifying, by means of the second communication apparatus, the first communication apparatus of a search result.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit as a divisional under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/540,696, filed on Sep. 29, 2006 and entitled “COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/540,696 claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application JP 2005-301720, filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Oct. 17, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to communication apparatuses, such as wireless terminals or cellular phone terminals, and to communication methods performed between communication apparatuses.

2. Description of the Related Art

In social network services (SNS), such as Mixi or Gree, communities constituted by so-called acquaintances of acquaintances (friends of friends) are formed.

Concerning acquaintances of acquaintances, as a matching information retrieval method, a method is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-169918. In this method, in order to retrieve information that matches conditions requested by a user from among various types of information stored in a computer system and to provide the retrieved information to the user, a server system retrieves information owned by an acquaintance of the user or owned by an acquaintance of an acquaintance of the user and provides the retrieved information to the user.

However, in the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-169918, although a user is able to acquire information owned by an acquaintance of an acquaintance of the user, the user is not able to directly communicate with the acquaintance of the acquaintance of the user (that is, a person who knows an acquaintance of the user).

For certain purposes, many users want to communicate with other people who are not immediate acquaintances. For example, when people who are not immediately acquainted with each other pass by each other or get close to each other outside home or at travel destinations, if they are able to directly communicate with each other, new encounters and experiences can be realized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to provide a simple method and apparatus allowing people who are not immediately acquainted with each other to directly and easily communicate with each other.

A communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of transmitting, by means of a first communication apparatus, personal information to a second communication apparatus; receiving, by means of the second communication apparatus, the personal information and searching, by means of the second communication apparatus, whether or not personal information having the same content as the received personal information exists in the second communication apparatus; and notifying, by means of the second communication apparatus, the first communication apparatus of a search result.

According to the communication method configured as described above, for example, when the name or address of an acquaintance of a first user (a user of a first communication apparatus) exists as personal information in the first communication apparatus and the name or address of an acquaintance of a second user (a user of a second communication apparatus) exists as personal information in the second communication apparatus, a result of search of whether or not a mutual (common) acquaintance between the first and second users exists is acquired by the second communication apparatus. When there is a mutual acquaintance between the first and second users, the first and second users are able to directly perform the subsequent communication with each other by requesting the subsequent communication from one of the first and second communication apparatuses to the other one of the first and second communication apparatuses.

In addition, for example, when the name of a company to which the first user belongs or a school to which the first user belonged exists as personal information in the first communication apparatus and a company to which the second user belongs or a school to which the second user belonged exists as personal information in the second communication apparatus, a search result of whether or not the first and second users belong to the same company or whether or not the first and second users belonged to the same school is acquired by the second communication apparatus. When the first and second users belong to the same company or belonged to the same school, the first and second users are able to directly perform the subsequent communication with each other by requesting the subsequent communication from one of the first and second communication apparatuses to the other one of the first and second communication apparatuses.

As described above, users who are not immediately acquainted with each other are able to directly and easily communicate with each other using a simple method and apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless terminal according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows part of an example of a communication process according to a first method;

FIG. 4 shows part of the example of the communication process according to the first method;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show part of the example of the communication process according to the first method;

FIG. 6 shows an example of setting of disclosure or nondisclosure;

FIG. 7 shows an example of a case where the degree of similarity of personal information is detected; and

FIG. 8 shows an example of a system when communication is performed via a network.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A first embodiment of the present invention (a case where short-distance wireless communication is performed) will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

The outline of a communication apparatus and a communication method will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Wireless terminals 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c are capable of directly transferring information between each other within a predetermined distance from each other via wireless communication, such as Ad-hoc communication.

Thus, each of the wireless terminals 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c may serve as a requesting terminal or a responding terminal. In the following descriptions, however, a case where the wireless terminal 1 a used by a user A serves as a requesting terminal, wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c used by users B and C serve as responding terminals, and the wireless terminal 1 a requests the wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c to perform communication will be described.

The wireless terminal 1 a holds, as personal information, the names or addresses of acquaintances of the user A in an internal or external storage device. The wireless terminal 1 b also holds, as personal information, the names or addresses of acquaintances of the user B in a similar storage device. The wireless terminal 1 c also holds, as personal information, the names or addresses of acquaintances of the user C in a similar storage device.

An “acquaintance” represents a friend, a family member, a relative, or a so-called someone who a person knows. A “name” serving as personal information may include a surname and forename, such as “Yamashita Ichiro”, may be only a surname, such as “Yamashita”, or only a forename, such as “Ichiro”. Alternatively, a “name” may be a common name or a nickname. An address serving as personal information is information other than the name, such as a mail address or a telephone number, which identifies a person.

For example, the wireless terminal 1 a holds, as the names of acquaintances of the user A, “Yamashita”, “Yamada”, “Yamaguchi”, and “Yamamoto”. The wireless terminal 1 b holds, as the names of acquaintances of the user B, “Kishita”, “Kida”, “Minakuchi”, and “Mizukami”. The wireless terminal 1 c holds, as the names of acquaintances of the user C, “Ueda”, “Ueki”, “Shimoyama”, and “Yamashita”.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, when the wireless terminal 1 a (the user A) enters an area 2 b within a predetermined distance from the wireless terminal 1 b (the user B), the wireless terminal 1 a is capable of transmitting to the wireless terminal 1 b the names of the acquaintances of the user A held in the wireless terminal 1 a with the recognition of the existence of the wireless terminal 1 b. When the wireless terminal 1 a (the user A) enters an area 2 c within a predetermined distance from the wireless terminal 1 c (the user C), the wireless terminal 1 a is capable of transmitting to the wireless terminal 1 c the names of the acquaintances of the user A held in the wireless terminal 1 a with the recognition of the existence of the wireless terminal 1 c.

The wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c each receive the names of the acquaintances of the user A from the wireless terminal 1 a, and search whether or not the names exist in the wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c. Then, the wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c notify the wireless terminal 1 a of results.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, none of the names transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a exists in the wireless terminal 1 b. Thus, the wireless terminal 1 b transmits to the wireless terminal 1 a a message, such as “No mutual acquaintance exists.” In contrast, the name “Yamashita”, which is transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a, exists in the wireless terminal 1 c. Thus, the wireless terminal 1 c transmits to the wireless terminal 1 a a message, such as “I know Mr./Ms. Yamashita.”

The wireless terminal 1 a receives the messages from the wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c, and presents to the user A the details of the messages, that is, search results acquired by the wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c. Thus, the user A of the wireless terminal 1 a is able to know that the user A and the user B of the wireless terminal 1 b do not have a mutual acquaintance and that the user A and the user C of the wireless terminal 1 c have (or may have) a mutual acquaintance. In accordance with the search results, the user A is able to request the user C to perform communication between the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 c.

As a specific communication method between the wireless terminal 1 a and each of the wireless terminals 1 b and 1 c, the method described below can be adopted.

An example of a wireless terminal will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 shows an example of each of the wireless terminals 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c. The wireless terminals 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c may have the same configuration. In the example shown in FIG. 2, each of the wireless terminals 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c is capable of playing back music.

More specifically, a wireless terminal used in the above-mentioned system, such as each of the wireless terminals 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c, includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11. A read-only memory (ROM) 13 in which a program or data is written and a random-access memory (RAM) 14 to which a program or data is loaded are connected to a bus 12.

In addition, a recording medium 16 is connected to the bus 12 via an interface 15, and an operation input unit 19 is connected to the bus 12 via an interface 18. The recording medium 16 is a hard disk, a flash memory, or the like. An apparatus ID (identifier) that identifies the terminal, a program executable by the CPU 11, music data, other types of data, the above-mentioned personal information, and the like are recorded on the recording medium 16. The operation input unit 19 is provided for a user to perform an operation and input to the terminal.

In addition, an audio output unit 22 including a speaker and a headphone is connected to the bus 12 via an audio processor 21. A display unit 24, such as a liquid crystal display, is connected to the bus 12 via a display controller 23. Playback music and voice announcement is output from the audio output unit 22. A screen used for an operation input or setting, a search result of personal information, a response (permission) to a communication request, and the like are indicated on the display unit 24.

In addition, an antenna 27 is connected to the bus 12 via a wireless communication unit 26, and an external interface 29 for connecting to a network 7, such as the Internet, is connected to the bus 12. The wireless communication unit 26 and the antenna 27 perform the above-mentioned short-distance wireless communication (direct wireless communication within a predetermined distance).

A content distribution server 31 is connected to the network 7. A content database 32 is connected to the content distribution server 31. In response to a request received from the terminal via the network 7, the content distribution server 31 transmits music data stored in the content database 32 to the terminal via the network 7. The transmitted music data is downloaded to the recording medium 16 of the terminal.

A personal information management server 33 is connected to the network 7. A personal information database 34 is connected to the personal information management server 33. In response to a request received from the terminal via the network 7, the personal information management server 33 transmits to the terminal via the network 7 personal information belonging to the user of the terminal and stored in the personal information database 34. The transmitted personal information is recorded on the recording medium 16 or the RAM 14 of the terminal.

That is, in this example, each wireless terminal does not necessarily hold the above-mentioned personal information. When a user intends to communicate with another user via the above-mentioned short-distance wireless communication, the terminal is connected to the personal information management server 33. Thus, the terminal is capable of receiving from the personal information management server 33 personal information deposited in the personal information management server 33 and holding the received personal information in the terminal.

In addition, each wireless terminal used in this example may also have a function of a cellular phone terminal. In this case, personal information is stored in a server of a cellular phone service company or a management service company. Thus, the system may be configured such that, in response to a request received from a terminal via a cellular phone communication network, the server is capable of transmitting via the cellular phone communication network to the terminal personal information belonging to the user of the terminal.

Examples of communication methods will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 5A, and 5B.

As a communication method or procedure, a method can be adopted in which a requesting terminal transmits to a responding terminal personal information stored in the requesting terminal and queries the responding terminal as to whether or not the same personal information as the personal information transmitted from the requesting terminal exists in the responding terminal and in which, in response to the query, the responding terminal searches whether or not the same personal information as the personal information transmitted from the requesting terminal exists in the responding terminal and notifies the requesting terminal of a search result. This method is called a first method.

Alternatively, another method can be adopted in which a requesting terminal requests a responding terminal to transmit personal information existing in the responding terminal and searches whether or not the same personal information as the personal information transmitted, in response to the request, from the responding terminal exists in the requesting terminal. This method is called a second method.

According to the first method, when the names of a plurality of acquaintances of the user of the requesting terminal exist as personal information in the requesting terminal, the requesting terminal may sequentially transmit the plurality of names to the responding terminal until the requesting terminal receives from the responding terminal a report indicating that the same name as a name transmitted from the requesting terminal exists in the responding terminal. However, the requesting terminal may collectively transmit the plurality of names to the responding terminal so that the responding terminal can perform searching by a single operation.

In addition, according to the second method, when the names of a plurality of acquaintances of the user of the responding terminal exist as personal information in the responding terminal, the responding terminal may sequentially transmit the plurality of names to the requesting terminal until the responding terminal receives from the requesting terminal a report indicating that the same name as a name transmitted from the responding terminal exists in the requesting terminal. However, the responding terminal may collectively transmit the plurality of names to the requesting terminal so that the requesting terminal can perform searching by a single operation.

In addition, the system can be configured such that, when personal information is received from the requesting terminal in the first method or when a request to transmit personal information is received from the requesting terminal in the second method, the responding terminal indicates on the display unit 24 of the responding terminal a message indicating that the personal information is received from the requesting terminal or a message indicating that the request to transmit the personal information is received from the requesting terminal and presents the message to the user of the responding terminal and such that, when the user is not able to accept the subsequent communication or when the user does not want to accept the subsequent communication, the responding terminal is capable of inhibiting searching for personal information or transmission of personal information by disconnecting the communication with the requesting terminal or by transmitting a message indicating that the communication with the requesting terminal is not acceptable in accordance with an operation of the operation input unit 19 of the responding terminal.

Examples of communication processes performed by the wireless terminal 1 a serving as the requesting terminal and the wireless terminal 1 x serving as the responding terminal in accordance with the first and second methods will be described. The wireless terminal 1 x has the same configuration as the wireless terminal 1 a shown in FIG. 2. A user X represents a user of the wireless terminal 1 x.

A communication process according to the first method will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 5A, and 5B.

FIGS. 3, 4, 5A, and 5B show an example of the communication process performed by the CPU 11 of each of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x according to the first method.

In the communication process in this example, in a state where each of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x is started up, the wireless terminal 1 a determines whether or not a destination terminal is found in step S41. When the wireless terminal 1 a enters an area within a predetermined distance from the wireless terminal 1 x (or the wireless terminal 1 x enters an area within a predetermined distance from the wireless terminal 1 a), the wireless terminal 1 a finds the wireless terminal 1 x as a destination terminal. In step S42, the wireless terminal 1 a transmits to the wireless terminal 1 x the names of acquaintances of the user A.

Here, the wireless terminal 1 a adds a routine message, such as “Is there anyone you know?”

In step S61, the wireless terminal 1 x receives the names. In step S62, the wireless terminal 1 x indicates a message, such as “There is a request from the user A of the wireless terminal 1 a that the user A would like to talk with someone who the user A knows,” which indicates that the names are received.

In step S63, the wireless terminal 1 x searches whether or not the same name as a name transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a exists in the wireless terminal 1 x. In step S64, it is determined whether or not the same name as a name transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a exists in the wireless terminal 1 x in accordance with a search result.

If it is determined in step S64 that the same name does not exist, the wireless terminal 1 x proceeds to step S65. In step S65, the wireless terminal 1 x indicates a message, such as “There is no mutual acquaintance.” In step S66, similarly, the wireless terminal 1 x notifies the wireless terminal 1 a of a message, such as “There is no mutual acquaintance,”.

In contrast, if it is determined in step S64 that the same name as a name transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a exists in the wireless terminal 1 x, the wireless terminal 1 x proceeds to step S67. In step S67, the wireless terminal 1 x indicates a message, such as “I have an acquaintance called Mr./Ms. AAA.” In step S68, similarly, the wireless terminal 1 x notifies the wireless terminal 1 a of a massage, such as “I have an acquaintance called Mr./Ms. AAA,”.

After transmitting the names of the acquaintances of the user A in step S42, the wireless terminal 1 a receives the report from the wireless terminal 1 x in step S43. Then, in step S44, the wireless terminal 1 a determines whether or not the report indicates presence of an acquaintance having the same name as a name transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a.

If it is determined in step S44 that the report received from the wireless terminal 1 x indicates presence of an acquaintance having the same name as a name transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a, the wireless terminal 1 a proceeds to step S45. In step S45, the wireless terminal 1 a requests the wireless terminal 1 x to perform the subsequent communication.

This request is issued by transmitting a routine message, such as “I also know Mr./Ms. AAA. Would you like to talk with me?”

After transmitting the message, such as “I have an acquaintance called Mr./Ms. AAA,” to the wireless terminal 1 a in step S68, the wireless terminal 1 x receives the request from the wireless terminal 1 a in step S71. Then, in step S72, the wireless terminal 1 x indicates that the request has been received.

The user X instructs the wireless terminal 1 x to perform or not to perform the subsequent communication in accordance with an operation of the operation input unit 19 of the wireless terminal 1 x.

After indicating the reception of the request in step S72, the wireless terminal 1 x determines whether or not to perform the subsequent communication in accordance with an instruction from the user X in step S73. If it is determined in step S73 that the subsequent communication should not be performed, the wireless terminal 1 x proceeds to step S74. In step S74, the wireless terminal 1 x notifies the wireless terminal 1 a that the subsequent communication should not be performed. If it is determined in step S73 that the subsequent communication should be performed, the wireless terminal 1 x proceeds to step S75. In step S75, the wireless terminal 1 x notifies the wireless terminal 1 a that the subsequent communication should be performed.

After requesting the wireless terminal 1 x to perform the subsequent communication in step S45, the wireless terminal 1 a receives the report from the wireless terminal 1 x in step S46. Then, in step S47, the wireless terminal 1 a determines whether or not the report indicates acceptance of the subsequent communication.

If it is determined in step S47 that the report received from the wireless terminal 1 x indicates acceptance of the subsequent communication, the wireless terminal 1 a proceeds to step S48. In step S48, the wireless terminal 1 a communicates with the wireless terminal 1 x. Then, in step S49, the wireless terminal 1 a determines whether or not to terminate the communication. If it is determined in step S49 that the communication should not be terminated, the wireless terminal 1 a returns to step S48 to continue the communication with the wireless terminal 1 x.

In addition, after transmitting the report indicating the acceptance of the subsequent communication in step S75, the wireless terminal 1 x proceeds to step S76. In step S76, the wireless terminal 1 x communicates with the wireless terminal 1 a. Then, in step S77, the wireless terminal 1 x determines whether or not to terminate the communication. If it is determined in step S77 that the communication should not be terminated, the wireless terminal 1 x returns to step S76 to continue the communication with the wireless terminal 1 a.

In the communication between the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x in the processing of steps S48 and S76, the users A and X are capable of performing communication, as described later, such as exchange of messages and transmission of music data from one of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x to the other one of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x so that the users of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x can listen to the same music together.

If it is determined in step S49 or step S77 that the communication should be terminated in accordance with a termination operation performed by the user A or the user X, the wireless terminal 1 a or 1 x performs processing for terminating the communication with the wireless terminal 1 x or 1 a and then terminates the communication in step S51 or step S79.

When it is determined in step S44 that the report received from the wireless terminal 1 x indicates that there is no acquaintance having the same name or when it is determined in step S47 that the report received from the wireless terminal 1 x indicates that the subsequent communication should be rejected, the wireless terminal 1 a proceeds to step S51. In step S51, after performing processing for terminating the communication with the wireless terminal 1 x, the wireless terminal 1 a terminates the communication with the wireless terminal 1 x.

In addition, after transmitting to the wireless terminal 1 a the report indicating that there is no acquaintance having the same name in step S66 or after transmitting to the wireless terminal 1 a the report indicating that the subsequent communication should be rejected, the wireless terminal 1 x proceeds to step S79. In step S79, after performing processing for terminating the communication with the wireless terminal 1 a, the wireless terminal 1 x terminates the communication with the wireless terminal 1 a.

Although an example of the process performed by the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x in accordance with the first method has been described above, each of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x may be configured to perform a process that is different from the above-described process.

For example, each of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x may be configured such that, when the user X instructs termination of communication after the wireless terminal 1 x indicates in step S62 that a search request has been received from the wireless terminal 1 a, the wireless terminal 1 x is capable of terminating the communication with the wireless terminal 1 a after reporting to the wireless terminal 1 a that the wireless terminal 1 x does not accept the request.

In addition, each of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x may be configured such that, even in a case where a report indicating that there is no acquaintance of the same name is received from the wireless terminal 1 x, when the user A instructs a request for the subsequent communication, the wireless terminal 1 a is capable of requesting the wireless terminal 1 x to perform the subsequent communication.

A communication process according to the second method will be described.

In the second method, a process performed by the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x is basically the same as the process according to the first method with the exception that, when the wireless terminal 1 a, which is a requesting terminal, requests the wireless terminal 1 x, which is a responding terminal, to transmit the names of acquaintances of the user X existing in the wireless terminal 1 x and the wireless terminal 1 x transmits, in response to the request, to the wireless terminal 1 a the names of the acquaintances of the user X existing in the wireless terminal 1 x, the wireless terminal 1 a searches whether or not the same name as a name transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 x exists in the wireless terminal 1 a and notifies the wireless terminal 1 x of a search result.

Communication between users will be described.

In the first method, communication after a request is received (that is, the subsequent communication) performed in steps S48 and S76 in FIGS. 5A and 5B includes exchange of messages, transmission of music data from one of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x to the other one of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x so that users of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x can listen to the same music together, and the like.

When each of the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x is provided with a microphone and has a function to transmit voice of a user picked up by the microphone to a destination terminal via the above-mentioned short-distance communication, conversation (talk) can be performed between the users A and X.

Disclosure/nondisclosure of personal information will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

As personal information, apart from the name of an acquaintance of a user, the address of the acquaintance can be used.

Firstly, however, the name and address of an acquaintance of a user is personal information of the acquaintance of the user (that is, the person who the user knows). Thus, in terms of protection of personal information, it is necessary to acquire permission of the acquaintance for disclosure of the name and address of the acquaintance (transmission of the name and address of the acquaintance to another user).

Thus, a user is able to set disclosure or nondisclosure of the name and address of an acquaintance of the user.

FIG. 6 shows an example when a user sets disclosure or nondisclosure of personal information. In the example shown in FIG. 6, in the requesting wireless terminal 1 a, “Yamashita”, “Yamada”, “Yamaguchi”, and “Yamamoto” exist as disclosable names of acquaintances of the user A, and “Nakata”, “Nakamura”, “Ueda”, and “Morita” exist as non-disclosable names of acquaintances of the user A. In addition, in the responding wireless terminal 1 x, “Ueda”, “Ueki”, “Shimoyama”, and “Shimoda” exist as disclosable names of acquaintances of the user X, and “Shimomura”, “Muzuki”, “Mizumori”, and “Yamashita” exist as non-disclosable names of acquaintances of the user X.

In this case, only the names of acquaintances that can be disclosed are transmitted to a destination terminal. More specifically, in the first method, in step S42 in FIG. 3, the wireless terminal 1 a transmits to the wireless terminal 1 x only the names that can be disclosed (that is, “Yamashita”, “Yamada”, “Yamaguchi”, and “Yamamoto”) as the names of acquaintances of the user A. In addition, in the second method, in response to a transmission request from the wireless terminal 1 a, the wireless terminal 1 x transmits to the wireless terminal 1 a only the names that can be disclosed (that is, “Ueda”, “Ueki”, “Shimoyama”, and “Shimoda”) as the names of acquaintances of the user X.

In contrast, personal information that is not disclosable can also be included in targets for searching performed by a searching terminal. That is, in the first method, in step S63 in FIG. 3, search is performed for all the names of acquaintances of the user X existing in the wireless terminal 1 x. In the second method, search is performed for all the names of acquaintances of the user A existing in the wireless terminal 1 a.

Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 6, in the first method, as a name that is equal to one of the names (“Yamashita”, “Yamada”, “Yamaguchi”, and “Yamamoto”) transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 a, presence of the name “Yamashita”, which is not disclosable, is detected in the wireless terminal 1 x. In the second method, as a name that is equal to one of the names (“Ueda”, “Ueki”, “Shimoyama”, and “Shimoda”) transmitted from the wireless terminal 1 x, presence of the name “Ueda”, which is not disclosable, is detected in the wireless terminal 1 a.

Each wireless terminal may be configured such that, when, in the first method, presence of a name that is not disclosable is detected in the wireless terminal 1 x, a message indicating nondisclosure is displayed in step S67 in FIG. 3, and the user X is able to carry out approximate measures, such as rejection of the subsequent communication. In addition, each wireless terminal may be configured such that, when, in the second method, presence of a name that is not disclosable is detected in the wireless terminal 1 a, a user is able to perform similar processing.

Personal information is not necessarily limited to the name or address of an acquaintance of a user of a terminal. Information indicating an item relating to the user of the terminal may be used as personal information.

The use of information indicating an item relating to a user of a terminal is not useful for communication between acquaintances of acquaintances. However, the use of information indicating an item relating to a user of a terminal may serve as a trigger of communication between people who are not immediately acquainted with each other, thus facilitating communication.

More specifically, information indicating an item relating to a user is, for example, (a) the name of a company, a school, a group, a section, a municipality, or the like that the user belongs to or belonged to, (b) a hobby or taste of the user, (c) a music category, a singer, or a song the user likes, or the like.

Accordingly, for example, in a case where “Taro” exists in the wireless terminal 1 a as the name of a singer the user A likes and “Taro” exists in the wireless terminal 1 x as the name of a signer the user X likes, when the users A and X enter an area of a predetermined distance from each other, the fact that both the users A and X like the singer “Taro” brings an opportunity of communication between the users A and X. Thus, the users A and X are capable of communicating with each other.

The degree of similarity of personal information will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

For determination of whether or not personal information existing in a requesting terminal and personal information existing in a responding terminal are equal to each other (or common), it is desirable that, instead of alternatively determining individual personal information as described above, the degree of similarity between the entire personal information existing in the requesting terminal and the entire personal information existing in the responding terminal be detected as a level (value).

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, as the names of acquaintances of the user A, names “Yamashita”, “Yamada”, “Yamaguchi”, and “Yamamoto” exist in the requesting wireless terminal 1 a. In addition, as the names of acquaintances of the user X, names “Ueda”, “Ueki”, “Shimoyama”, and “Yamashita” exist in the responding wireless terminal 1 x, as shown by case 1, or names “Yamada”, “Ueki”, “Shimoyama”, and “Yamashita” exist in the responding wireless terminal 1 x, as shown by case 2. In this case, all the above-given names are disclosable.

In case 1, since only the name “Yamashita” exists both in the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x, the degree of similarity is set to level 1. In case 2, since the names “Yamada” and “Yamashita” exist both in the wireless terminals 1 a and 1 x, the degree of similarity is set to level 2.

The degree of similarity detected as described above may be used for selection of whether or not the subsequent communication should be performed and for determination of a target or a mode of the subsequent communication.

For example, each wireless terminal may be configured such that, in the first method, when the degree of similarity is also detected in step S64 in FIG. 3 and the same name exists, the degree of similarity is indicated in step S67 in FIG. 3 or immediately before step S45 in FIG. 4, and such that selection of whether or not to request the subsequent communication can be performed in accordance with the degree of similarity. More specifically, for example, when the degree of similarity is low, such as level 1, the user X rejects the subsequent communication. Alternatively, only when the degree of similarity is high, such as level 2 or more, the user A requests the subsequent communication, and when the degree of similarity is low, such as level 1, the user A does not request the subsequent communication. A similar configuration is applied to the second method.

In addition, each wireless terminal may be configured such that a user instruction is set for the wireless terminal in advance and such that, in the process of communication, the wireless terminal is capable of determining whether or not communication should be continued and whether or not a request is issued in accordance with settings.

A target or a mode of the subsequent communication is changed in accordance with selection or setting performed by a user. More specifically, when the degree of similarity is smaller than a threshold value, a target or a mode of communication is changed, for example, (a) although messages are exchanged, transmission or reception of music data in order to listen to the same music together or conversation (talk) is not performed or (b) although the same music is listened together, only one track is listened, in accordance with the degree of similarity.

A second embodiment of the present invention (a case where communication via a network is performed) will be described with reference to FIG. 8.

As a first example, communication using a cellular phone communication network will be described.

Although a case where a communication apparatus used by a user is a wireless terminal and the communication apparatus communicates with a communication apparatus (wireless terminal) used by another user via short-distance wireless communication is described in the first embodiment, the communication apparatus may be a cellular phone terminal and the communication apparatus may communicate with another communication apparatus (cellular phone terminal) via a cellular phone communication network.

Each of the wireless terminals 1 a, 1 b, 1 c, and 1 x shown in FIG. 2 is capable of having a function of a cellular phone terminal in the first embodiment. However, in the first embodiment, communication between users is performed using a short-distance wireless communication function provided in each wireless terminal.

In contrast, in the first example of the second embodiment, a communication apparatus is a cellular phone terminal that does not have a short-distance wireless communication function. Thus, the above-described communication between users is performed using a cellular phone communication network.

In this case, even when a user of a requesting cellular phone terminal does not know a user of a responding cellular phone terminal, if the user of the requesting cellular phone terminal knows the address of the responding cellular phone terminal, the requesting cellular phone terminal is capable of being connected to the responding cellular phone terminal via a cellular phone communication network. Thus, the user of the requesting cellular phone terminal is capable of performing the above-described communication with the user of the responding cellular phone terminal.

As a second example, communication using the Internet will be described.

As the second example of communication using a network, a communication apparatus used by a user may have a function to be connected to the Internet and the communication apparatus may communicate with a communication apparatus of another user via the Internet.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a system in this case. Communication apparatuses 3 d, 3 e, 3 f, and 3 g used by the users D, E, F, and G are connected to the Internet 9. In addition, the personal information management server 33 is connected to the Internet 9. The personal information database 34 is connected to the personal information management server 33.

Names “Yamashita”, “Yamada”, “Yamaguchi”, “Yamamoto”, “Miki”, “Mita”, and “Nakamura” exist as the names of acquaintances of the user D in the communication apparatus 3 d. Names “Mita”, “Nakamura”, “Nakamori”, “Morita”, “Hayashi”, and “Moriyama” exist as the names of acquaintances of the user E in the communication apparatus 3 e. Names “Moriyama”, “Mizuki”, “Mizumori”, “Shimoyama”, “Shimoda”, “Shimomura”, “Uemura”, and “Kanda” exist as the names of acquaintances of the user F in the communication apparatus 3 f. Names “Uemura”, “Shinagawa”, “Kawada”, “Kawaguchi”, and “Ota” exist as the names of acquaintances of the user G in the communication apparatus 3 g.

These names are not necessarily recorded on a communication apparatus used by a user. The communication apparatus is capable of acquiring these names from the personal information management server 33 when the communication apparatus is connected to another communication apparatus to transmit names existing in the communication apparatus to the other communication apparatus, when the other communication apparatus requests the communication apparatus to transmit names existing in the communication apparatus, or when the communication apparatus searches whether or not the same name as a name transmitted from the other communication apparatus exists in the communication apparatus.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, “Mita” and “Nakamura” are mutual acquaintances between the users D and E, “Moriyama” is a mutual acquaintance between the users E and F, and “Uemura” is a mutual acquaintance between the users F and G. However, there is no mutual acquaintance between the users D and F, between the users D and G, or between the users E and G.

In this case, for example, even when the user D does not know the user E, if the user D knows the address of the communication apparatus 3 e used by the user E, the communication apparatus 3 d is capable of being connected to the communication apparatus 3 e used by the user E. Thus, the user D is able to perform the above-described communication with the user E.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occur depending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they are within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for providing information, the device comprising at least one processor configured to: retrieve, from a personal information database, first information regarding a first user and second information regarding a second user, the first information identifying one or more acquaintances of the first user, the second information identifying one or more acquaintances of the second user; determine, based at least in part on the first information and the second information, information indicating a degree of similarity including a number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user; and notify the first user of the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, wherein the first information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the first user and the second information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the second user.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the personal information database comprises an additional device external to the device for providing information.
 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to notifying the first user of the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, receive, from the first user, an instruction as to whether to establish a connection with the second user.
 4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to receiving an instruction to establish the connection with the second user, establish the connection with the second user.
 5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to establishing the connection with the second user, deliver a message to at least one of the first user or the second user.
 6. The device according to claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to establishing the connection with the second user, transmit voice information of at least one of the first user or the second user between the first user and the second user.
 7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: notify the first user of personal information of at least one of the mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user.
 8. The device according to claim 7, wherein the personal information of the at least one of the mutual acquaintances comprises at least one name of the at least one of the mutual acquaintances.
 9. A device for providing information, the device comprising at least one processor configured to: receive information indicating a degree of similarity including a number of mutual acquaintances shared by a first user and a second user and personal information of at least one of the mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, wherein the first user and the second user are different, and wherein the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances is determined based at least in part on first personal information indicating one or more acquaintances of the first user and second personal information indicating one or more acquaintances of the second user; and transmit a request for connection between the first user and the second user, wherein the first personal information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the first user and the second personal information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the second user.
 10. The device according to claim 9, wherein the request for connection comprises a request for subsequent communication.
 11. The device according to claim 9, wherein the first personal information and the second personal information are stored in a personal information database comprising an additional device external to the device for providing information.
 12. The device according to claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to receiving the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, transmit an instruction as to whether to establish a connection between the first user and the second user.
 13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to the connection between the first user and the second user being established, receive a message from the second user.
 14. The device according to claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to the connection between the first user and the second user being established, receive voice information of the second user.
 15. The device according to claim 9, wherein the personal information of at least one of the mutual acquaintances comprises at least one name of the at least one of the mutual acquaintances.
 16. A method for providing information, the method comprising: retrieving, from a personal information database, first information regarding a first user and second information regarding a second user, the first information identifying one or more acquaintances of the first user, the second information identifying one or more acquaintances of the second user; determining, based at least in part on the first information and the second information, information indicating a degree of similarity including a number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user; and notifying the first user of the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, wherein the first information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the first user and the second information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the second user.
 17. A method for providing information, the method comprising: receiving information indicating a degree of similarity including a number of mutual acquaintances shared by a first user and a second user and personal information of at least one of the mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, wherein the first user and the second user are different, and wherein the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances is determined based at least in part on first personal information indicating one or more acquaintances of the first user and second personal information indicating one or more acquaintances of the second user; and transmitting a request for connection between the first user and the second user, wherein the first personal information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the first user and the second personal information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the second user.
 18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for providing information, the method comprising: retrieving, from a personal information database, first information regarding a first user and second information regarding a second user, the first information identifying one or more acquaintances of the first user, the second information identifying one or more acquaintances of the second user; determining, based at least in part on the first information and the second information, information indicating a degree of similarity including a number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user; and notifying the first user of the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, wherein the first information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the first user and the second information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the second user.
 19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for providing information, the method comprising: receiving information indicating a degree of similarity including a number of mutual acquaintances shared by a first user and a second user and personal information of at least one of the mutual acquaintances shared by the first user and the second user, wherein the first user and the second user are different, and wherein the information indicating the degree of similarity including the number of mutual acquaintances is determined based at least in part on first personal information indicating one or more acquaintances of the first user and second personal information indicating one or more acquaintances of the second user; and transmitting a request for connection between the first user and the second user, wherein the first personal information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the first user and the second personal information identifies one or more names of the one or more acquaintances of the second user. 